DRW50

Sue Johnston is leaving Corrie. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/4976310/I-cant-Corrie-on-says-TV-Sue.html There are some saying Karl is also going in September. I'm glad so much of the dead weight is being cleared out, even if there's still tons and tons left. If I'd only ever seen her on this show I never would have known she was a talented, acclaimed actress.

Lomas will probably be a good fit for Eastenders, as he does the cheeky hardman routine and has some charisma, or had it in earlier years. I haven't watched the show in the last few years so I don't know how he'll fit in. I just hope someone can replace Phil as he's so dull.

Summer preview. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZI13tzumQI

This is the return. I am convinced they did this to make viewers hate Todd and not want him back. The whole thing was OOC and poorly written. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s09ND2G5au4

A lot of "groups" complained about the baby switch, which led to some changes. If it had played out as it was originally intended, it might have been better. Or not. I wish we'd found out. Eastenders is treated shabbily by the press and many in the public because it's on the BBC, which is taxpayer-funded. Corrie and Emmerdale have told some shockingly offensive and dangerous stories in the last 3-4 years, and gotten a free pass, because they're on ITV.

She looks a little like Lynn Herring, but there's still some Randall too. Is that her daughter?

I didn't mean your reaction, I meant the article itself. It reminds me of some of those articles that were shocked and appalled to learn South Beach Tow is fake.

The 18-49 rating, if that's what still counts, was .05. No idea if that's lower than their usual. I had to laugh at the horror and shock of NY housewives staging scenes. Isn't that what most of today's reality shows are about? Didn't someone on this show (was it Jill or Kelly?) stage or invent scenes, or was that some other HW cast?

More 1998 material. I think this is the debut of Eddie Man. I won't be watching, but if you want to see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La5yXnOGIyo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjgbVpc9DVM

I finally watched the last GH marathon episode I'd taped from months ago (I'd either seen everything from after that point, or had no interest in seeing it). It was the one with the harbor protest, Mac's first episode, Robert and Anna at odds and desiring each other. While the episode was not perfect (I was especially confused by Jenny Eckert racing a raft in circles and then driving straight into the boats - at first I thought she was going to have a suicide mission), I was impressed by how fast it moved. I could see Gloria Monty's work there, especially the way Robert and Anna had those sharply edited flashbacks of the previous few days. The scenes with Robert and Anna had so many different layers - maturity, juvenile actions, fighting against true feelings, sexual tension, etc. Finola Hughes had so much vitality and sparkle. Who was playing Robin's nanny/the housekeeper, and how long was she around? Was she part of the Asian Quarter story? When was she last on the show? I liked her energy, even if she was a stereotype. I'd forgotten Kurt McKinney was still playing Ned at this time. I guess he was gone soon after this. I guess Lord Ashton wasn't on for much longer either. The whole story seemed like filler but it was nice to see Tracy. I never even knew she was living outside of the mansion at this point. Poor Monica seemed to be styled like a 70-year old First Lady for most of the mid-80s and early 90s. I have no idea why.

That Cheerios ad which caused such a racist outcry has Charles Malik Whitfield (Ben Price #1 on OLTL) as the father. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYofm5d5Xdw

I remember a little of Woman With a Past summarized too - not much but some, along with Golden Windows, etc. If you have any 30s or 40s stuff on GL that would interest me, or early 50s. What was the name of the book?

I didn't know that. Thanks for letting us know. I'm glad to hear they have complete Daytime Diary sections. Are you still interested in seeing any articles from those magazines, or have you already seen it all?

Thanks. This was fascinating. I hadn't read this before. Sounds like a good rundown of the story.

Another media darling, Jeb Bush, the "smart" Bush, essentially equate immigration to finding cheap, fertile labor. Ugh. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/14/191776099/immigrants-are-more-fertile-jeb-bush-says-in-reform-speech

I don't have enough room on my DVR to tape marathons of these shows, so I'm perpetually waiting for more on Netflix, but the first time I tried to watch OC's first season, I couldn't make it past the first episode. The second time, I did make it through the season, and enjoyed it more, especially once I got to know more about Jeana. And Lauri's story was one of those weird real and reel blends where you never quite knew how much to believe in what she showed of her life (for instance, there were these big problems with her daughter which were only briefly mentioned in a blurb at the end of the season). The episode where she and her friend had to put on their slips and present themselves at the Playboy mansion was probably one of the most honest and degrading moments I can remember on one of these shows.

Kim ZImmer interview for her role in Wicked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5VhMNmzGxc

Some 1981 (a commenter said they were 1981?) clips, dubbed into Russian.

Media darling Marco spreading his hate again. Watch the media swoon. http://editors.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/06/bring_the_gays_and_im_outta_here.php?ref=fpblg http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/06/13/2153451/rubio-enda/?mobile=nc Speaking of hate - more ugly racism and bigotry, this time against a boy who sang the National Anthem. So much online stuff brings out the bile. http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/mexican-american-boy-who-sang-national-anthem-at?ref=fpblg

Kate Oates interview. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s12/emmerdale/interviews/a490014/emmerdale-gossip-and-teasers-from-producer-kate-oates-part-one.html

TV Picture Life

Mandy might be returning briefly. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/news/a489534/hollyoaks-sarah-jayne-dunn-mandy-may-be-returning.html?utm_source=twt&utm_medium=snets&utm_campaign=twitter

I was about to post that.

I don't think a woman is automatically a better judge of a show than a man, I just meant that since I'm not a woman, if I read an article or comments from women about scenes that disturbed them or use of female characters that disturbed them, I'm more likely to take that into account, because they're seeing it from a view that I can't. That's true for many shows, but for whatever reason this came up quite a bit with this show in season 2, which is one of the reasons I said it was one of the main things I'd heard about the show, until I started reading more closely.

JackPeyton talked about wine tasting. I was never as into TNG as your friend is but I'm glad you're watching the show. The first season is a trainwreck, probably the worst of Roddenberry's idealism, and the second is a mixed bag, but there's good stuff, and the later seasons have some very strong moments. It's probably the purest form of Roddenberry. I'd say it's worth watching for Picard and then so much else (Q, Crusher, Polaski [who was hated by a lot of fans], the wonderful, wonderful Data; I always liked Deanna Troi, even if a lot of fans, especially female fans, struggled with her). Riker and Worf bored me but Worf had his moments. The pacifism reaches levels of self-parody (wait until you see that Crystalline Entity episode in season 5 or so), but I'll take that over anything to come with this franchise, especially the warmongering reboot. I didn't care about watching GoT at first because most of what I knew of it was stories about women who were uncomfortable with the show's explotive treatment of females and female nudity, my not being a big fan of medieval stuff, and assuming the show was all about Peter Dinklage. Since reading here, and tumblr, I've seen more of the show I can relate to. At the moment I am trying to get through a few other shows but then I'm going to start watching.